Seven weeks ago, I shared that C.J. Henry requested his release from the Phils’ organization. Now, the Post has a report that he’s back in the Yankees fold:

The Yankees signed C.J. Henry to a minor league deal after their No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft asked for and was granted his release by the Phillies. He was dealt to Philly in 2006 as part of the Bobby Abreu deal.

“He came to us,” scouting head Damon Oppenheimer, the man who drafted the 21-year-old Henry, who batted .184 for Lakewood (Single-A) this past summer. “He told us he wanted to play for us and asked would we want him back? We made sure he wanted to play baseball and we found out the last month of the season he was fitted for contacts and hit .300.”

Henry, who had a basketball offer from Kansas out of high school, was drafted as a shortstop and moved to the outfield.

“He will play the outfield in the [Single A] Florida State League,” said Oppenheimer, who wasn’t sure where in Tampa’s outfield the speedy Henry would play.

Though Henry hasn’t hit in three minor league seasons, Oppenheimer said he believes the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder will benefit from being around people he knows.

“People have a feeling for him,” Oppenheimer said. “We all have a stake in this one. He means more to us than if he was with another team as a released player.”

I guess that Oppenheimer is not afraid of the ol’ “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” logic.

I always chuckle when a guy discovers that he needs glasses (Wild Thing Vaughn) or needs a bigger, more comfortable helmet (Kevin Mench). It’s like, did you not notice you couldn’t see that well or that your head was hurting when you were wedging it into that tight lid?

Anyway, Baileywalk’s right. For $50K, who cares? Maybe two years from now he figures out how to be decent and we re-package him in another trade for someone. It never hurts.